Rae
by KrynnIsBoredAgain
Summary: This is a part of my other story, The Magic Finds You, after chapter 12. So, please go and read that before this, otherwise you'll be very confused. Thats all I've got to say, so I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

*Authors Note*

This is a continuation from my fan fiction _The Magic Finds You_ after chapter 12. To see what happened before this story, go and check out that fan fiction. This side of the story goes at the same pace as the other, unless I say something like _3 months later_ , but that probably won't happen in one story and not the other. This means that I'll be posting these two different stories on alternate days. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this part of the story.

As Rae ran, she realised that she had nowhere to go. She could go back home, but the media would be surrounding her. She wouldn't go back to Owen and Violet, not even if she were killed. After running for half an hour, it started to pour down raining. Looking around, she saw a hollowed out tree with a gap that she could fit into. Climbing into the tree, Rae curled herself up and started to dose off.

As the morning light shone through the small hole in the tree, Rae bumped her head as she got up. Remembering what had happened the day earlier, Rae scowled at herself and came out of her hiding place, almost stepping on Hequenza. "Wha…Hequenza?" Rae stammered. The small feline slowly opened her eyes and stretched her legs. Looking up at Rae, she softly meowed. Rae sighed and sat down next to her, eating one of the few berries that she had collected. "I really shouldn't have run off like that. If I had waited, at least, I could have grabbed a little bit more food." Rae sighed, offering a berry to Hequenza.

 ** _"Don't worry about it. You said what was on your mind and you said it with confidence. When that happens, it's usually because it was meant to."_** Rae looked around to see who had spoken, only to realise that they were alone. Looking back down at Hequenza, Rae looked confused and shook her head. "Heh….am I going insane? Has it finally happened? It's because I swore, isn't it. It's scrambled my brain." Rae muttered to herself, still looking at Hequenza. **_"Nope! You're completely fine. Also, I've already eaten. Thanks for the offer though."_** Hequenza said, as if she had been talking to Rae forever. Rae jumped back, almost getting herself soaked in the rain. "w….wh…what? uhh….it's okay?" Rae replied, her voice shaking. **_"Yep! Oh…oh right, I forgot that you haven't heard me talk before…well, you have now! I think it's pretty….PAWSOME that I can talk, right?"_** Hequenza joked, putting one of her front paws on Rae's foot.

Rae woke up this morning expecting challenges, but nothing like a talking rainbow tiger telling her terrible puns. But, despite how bad the tigers puns were, she couldn't help but laugh. **_"Yes! You laughed! That's never happened before! Ticking that off the bucket list…Anyway, what are we going to do now? I mean, I'm guessing you don't want to go back to the elf-man or the phoenix embodiment."_** Hequenza guessed. Raes small shreds of joy were just made even smaller when Hequenza mentioned Violet and Owen. "No…I'm not going back. Even if I have to in order to survive." Rae mumbled, putting her head in her hands, before realising something. "Hold on, you said elf-man and phoenix embodiment? What is that meant to mean?" Hequenza looked up at Rae as if she were stupid, before replying to her question.

 ** _"You didn't notice? Well, the phoenix embodiment can only summon her wings, right? That's all a phoenix can really do, even though they do have an excellent sense of sight and smell. We should be good though. The rain has probably stuffed things up for her nose."_** Hequenza noted, as she continued. **_"As for the elf-man…well, he's got the powers of a nature elf. Mostly elves are just skilful in magics in general, but it looks to me that he either doesn't know that or he physically can't do anything else. I just don't get it though. I thought the only elves that were left were the ones back home, but I guess not."_** Hequenza finished, looking up. Rae put the pieces together, and everything fit perfectly. "Alrighty then, it all makes sense…but, I have a question that you might have heard before." Rae told Hequenza, who was just chilling in the soft grass, making sure to stay out of the rain. **_"Yea? I've heard it before…Alright, now I just need to think about questions that I've heard of before…nope, got nothing. Just tell me."_** Hequenza said jokingly. Rae sighed, but went on anyway. "If Violet and Owen have powers, then is it possible that there are others with powers out there?" Rae suggested. As soon as she finished the sentence, the tree that she was leaning on suddenly shook, and started to fall. Right on top of the two girls.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Thunder Strikes

As the tree started its descent and Rae started screaming, Hequenza jumped back, as if to jump towards the toppling giant. Running to the side, Rae continued to scream and shout at Hequenza, telling her to move out of the way. But, she had no need to. The small tiger started to grow at a large rate, like something you would only find on T.V.. Hequenza's stripes became a bright, confident orange as her size changed. Going up on her hind legs, she grabbed the trunk of the tree with arms as strong as a wrestlers and pushed the tree, making it topple the other way.

Rae sat to the side of the tree, chest heaving, staring at Hequenza. After about a minute of her gaping, Hequenza decided to break the silence. **_"Well…at least we aren't dead! Where should we hide now?"_** She asks, slowly shrinking back to her original size. "Wha…okay, what the hell! I knew I was in for something this morning, but THIS is just…wow. How long have you been able to do this?" Rea quavered, pointing at her stripes. **_"Hmm…I dunno. The colours come when I need it. I needed it right now, I guess. Anyway, why do you think the tree fell down?"_** Hequenza asked, gesturing towards the fallen tree. "I did hear lightning…maybe the tree had been struck?" Rae suggested, grabbing a berry that hadn't been crushed or lost.

Before Hequenza could reply, laughter could be heard from the skies. "BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA! They didn't expect THAT to happen. That chic probably couldn't run faster! Now, to put the tree back how it was before, to scare her if she comes back. And thats IF she does, the little bitch." The voice snickered from above. Upon hearing the voice, Rae and Hequenza had run for cover under another tree nearby, listening to the whole thing. "She probably couldn't fight for her life, let alone be brave enough to come back here. That shoulda scared her enough to be out of this forest in just under an hour!" A figure lowered themselves down onto the ground near the fallen tree.

The boy looked about 17, with blonde hair that stuck up so high that it had to be gelled. No shirt, Rea and Hequenza could see that his back was covered in blue, electric feathers with two black dots in the middle, similar to Violets. He had positioned himself to the side of the tree, his face hidden from view. "Heh, the winds must have thrown off the tree. That girl couldn't have moved it out of the way. She was lucky." He said, lifting up the trunk of the tree with a single hand. "Lucky my ass…" Rae muttered, walking forward. Hequenza was about to stop her, but she hesitated. He DID just insult her. And, maybe if Rae did more stuff like this, she could stand up to more people like Owen, and not care about swearing.

Slowly getting closer, Rae quietly rolled up her sleeves. As she was only a metre away, she cleared her throat loud enough for the boy to hear. The boy turned around, startled to hear something that wasn't rain. Rae pulled her hand back and hit him square in the nose. "I can't defend myself, huh? I couldn't run faster, right? Tell me, tell me thats not what you said, because it's obviously complete bullshit." Rae said casually, despite being mad. The boy stumbled back, holding his nose with both hands. "Heh…heh…Adney was right…You don't let anything get in your way." The boy answered to her punch. Straightening his back, he took his hands away from his face.

The boys eyes were a lightning blue and he had a pale complexion. His nose was crooked and bleeding, thanks to Rae's punch. He had a both rounded ears and cheeks, along with a pair of soft pink lips. "Uh…what're you talking about?" Rae asked, a puzzled look spreading across her face. The boy held his nose carefully before cracking it back into place. "Well…we kinda saw you and the other two run into the forest and we thought we would investigate. Seeing two more people with powers was cool, but they were so full of themselves. When Adney saw you on the other hand, he saw that you were just pulling along the others, and that if you stuck around for too long, you'd end up like them." He said, wiping away the blood with his hands. "We were going to make it so that you got separated, but it looks like you did that pretty easily. We didn't have to do a thing." The boy finished, taking a seat on the wet grass.

"Hold on a second…what do you mean by 'we?' There's more of you lot? Also, was it really necessary to talk about me like that…guy? What are we meant to call you anyway?" Rae demanded, sounding annoyed. "Yea…sorry about that. I usually hate swearing like that, especially about someone I don't know. But, to get to the point, yes, there are more of us. And we all look heaps older than we really are. I mean, I'm only 12, believe it or not. To answer your last question…My name is Chavez. And I've been here a bloody long time.

*Authors Note*  
Hey everyone! I hope you like how I'm showing both sides of the story, but it is taking me a little bit longer to write. So, I'll _try_ and keep up with the schedule, but I might be a few days late with both stories. Thanks for reading! See you later!


	3. Chapter 3 - The Explanation

Rae had calmed down, and had climbed up one of the tall trees to one of the lower branches. Hequenza had clawed her way up the trunk and was sitting on her lap. Chavez was leaning up against the same tree, eating a red apple. "You want one?" he asked, pulling another one out of his bag. Rae had already seen about 10 things come out of that bag, including a shirt, some bandages, a bottle of water, a flashlight and a few other camping materials. Seeing Raes concern, Chavez said "It's alright. I've put the food in a separate little bag. See? It's fine." Rae looked down and nodded, not wanting to talk to him.

After another few minutes of silence, Hequenza had had enough. **_"Alright buddy, we need an explanation. You seem nice enough, but you did kinda confess to spying on us earlier. We need an explanation. Where are the 'others?' How many more of there are you? How much more do you know about this forest?"_** Hequenza said harshly, leaping down to the ground to interrogate him. "You know, I should be asking you the same kind of questions. I mean, we thought we had this whole part of the forest down pat, but I guess you've hidden yourself really well. But, I won't push it. I'll answer your questions, since you kinda don't have anywhere to go and we have shelter." Chavez sighed, taking another bite of his apple.

"I'll start from the beginning, shall I? Please try not to interrupt, I get really pissed when that happens. Anyway! It was about 5 years ago when I ran away. I don't know why I did it, and I don't care. Either way, I grabbed anything and everything that I could find that could help. Clothes, canned food, matches, torches, batteries, the whole lot. I was a boy scout, so I knew what to get for camping. Anyway, I went at about twelve at night, in the middle of a huge thunderstorm, quite like this one, actually. I ran and ran and ran as fast and as far away as I could from my house, so no-one could find me for at least a day or so. I never thought I would be out here for this long, but look at me now!" He urged, pointing towards himself, before continuing.

"I found a small cave to hide in after I had been running for a few hours. Well, the running was more along the lines of running for a few minutes them puffing and panting for the next ten. After sleeping for a few hours, I cracked open a can of beef and started to eat. Unfortunately, the cave I was in was home to a few…wolves. They smelt out the beef, and me, and came back home faster than expected. I heard them though, and abandoned the beef so they would leave me alone. I climbed one of the tall trees just before the wolves ran around the corner and into the cave. It didn't take long for them to figure out where I was though, and my tree was surrounded. Remember how I said I packed everything? Well, I packed rocks. Real big, sharp ones. I threw down the rocks, aiming for their heads, and scared them all away. Except for one."

"It looked like it was the alpha wolf or something, but it kept moving out of the way of the rocks and tried to climb the tree. I was horrified. I had run out of weaponry and the wolf was making progress up the tree. So, me being a dumb seven year old, I jumped down on it. Landed straight on its nose, before it opened its mouth and bit me. Thats where I got this." Chavez told them, taking off his left shoe to reveal bite marks. "Anyway, it grabbed my foot and obviously, I screamed out. I was confused, mad and in excruciating pain. I glared down at the wolf and tried to burn it. With my eyes, I mean. I had watched way too much T.V at the time. I thought I was a superhero. Somehow, it worked and my eyes went white."

"When my vision cleared, I was in the sky, looking down at the wolf sprawled on the ground. I saw the pain in the creature, and felt sorry for it. I cautiously set myself down about ten metres away from it, slowly walking forward. As soon as I was close enough so that I could look at it properly but it couldn't bite me, it started to…melt…into a weird puddle on the ground. Then, from the puddle of goop, I saw a human figure come out of it. Or more like, the puddle BECAME a guy. He told me that his name was Adney, and that he could help me stay in these woods for years. So, without anywhere left to go, I followed him. I met up with about 5 other guys, all older than me with powers. You'll meet them soon, if you're coming with me, that is. We've grown since then. About 30 guys have made a small town about an hours flight from here. People with and without powers. The people without powers though are showing symptoms of getting them. So it all works out." Chavez finished, grabbing another apple from his bag.

Rae sat in thought, surprised but understanding of Chavez's story. "So…you're telling me that you ran away, got attacked, did something stupid and was taken in by this Adney guy? You know, this doesn't surprise me as much as I thought it would." Rae responded, dropping out of the tree. "You sound legit too. But, uh, why has it all been guys? I'm not against the idea, but I was just wondering." Chavez looked over at Rae, who was helping herself to some more food. "Well, we aren't exactly sure. Our scouts have been searching all over, but whenever we see any girls, they all seem to go missing after the first night." He said.

"So now the big question still lingers. Are you gonna come? We're always building new rooms and we have plenty of food. If you don't wanna, we're all for that too. We've had about 20 guys say that we're 'shady' and 'untrustworthy,' but they all left the forest anyway." Chavez asked. Rae sat there thinking for a moment, before giving some sort of reply. "If I do go…how long will it take for me to get there? I can't fly, and I don't think you'll want to carry me." Rae questioned, getting up from her seat on the tree. "Well…I did only mention by flight, didn't I?" Chavez grinned, jumping up. "I didn't mention any other type of travel. There's underground, running slash walking, swimming and as I said before, flight. The fastest one is underground, but if Nathan isn't around, then that won't happen. What ever shall we do?" He said, saying each word on it's own, as if he was acting sarcastically.

After Chavez had played around some more with his words, the ground right in front of them gave way, revealing a long tunnel. A cart about the size of a family car came out from the darkness, activating some sort of light system. A note had been left on one of the front seats, reading _You owe me Chavez. This is the third time you were too lazy to just fly!_ and 4 seats, each with a seatbelt and a bit of fruit. "You coming or not?" Chavez asked Rae, motioning towards the cart. Nodding, Rae was about to climb on when she remembered her small feline friend. Turning around, Rae saw that Hequenza had fallen asleep on the grass, even though the rain had never stopped. Carefully picking her up, Rae took Hequenza over to the cart and put her in a seat, clipping her in. "Lets go!" Rae yelled excitedly, getting into her own seat. Rolling his eyes, Chavez put on his seatbelt and pulled on a bit of rope that looked a bit like a microphone and started to speak into it, saying "Alright Nathan, we have company this time, alright! Don't dangle us upside down like you did with me yesterday."

Before Rae could even comment, a protective shelter had formed around the cart and boost off at a speed she hadn't even felt on a rollercoaster. She was leaving that sick place. And she wasn't going back.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Hideout

Rae's hair flew up to lengths that she didn't even know were possible. Her back was pushed up against the seat of the chair, almost going through it. The seatbelt did almost nothing to help Hequenza, and she was pushed out of the seat and was up against the back of the cart. Chavez on the other hand, was sitting normally, obviously used to these kinds of speeds. "Alright Nathan, can you close the windows up so then no one can see them? I don't think they want to be overwhelmed…yes, yes, I'm not lying. Here, I'll prove it. Hey Rae, say something, will ya? Nathan doesn't think there's anyone else on board." Chavez asked, pointing the microphone towards her. "Yea, I'll say something. WHEN CAN I GET OFF THIS THING? There, does that suffice, or do I need to swear too?" Rea yelled, making Chavez laugh. A small murmur could be heard from the other side, and the windows were blocked off.

After another few minutes of the intense speed, the cart had slowed down and Rae could move again. Hequenza had almost passed out on the floor, and Chavez couldn't stop laughing. That is, until Rae threatened to slap him again. A laugh could be heard on the other side of the mic, before being cut off by a loud rumbling. Little slivers of light could be seen through gaps in the window, but they weren't big enough for anyone to see through them. But just in case, the two visitors hid under their seats.

A small gap opened up to reveal a face with a dark complexion. his eyes were a mud brown and his hair was a pitch black. "Alrighty then. You said that there was actually someone else on here, right?" The guy said, looking around the cart. He then spots Rae under the seat with Hequenza, waving back at the staring face. A look of surprise covers his face, right before realisation replaced it. "OH, alright, I get it. I'll take you lot right up to Adney, okay? But the others are going to find out in a few hours. Thats just how he works. Oh, by the way. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm Nathan. Hope you have fun while you're here!" Nathan said, his face disappearing back to the outside world.

The cart suddenly lurched to the side and they were lifted up into the air. As Nathan carried them carefully to their destination, Hequenza gave Chavez a piece of her mine. **_"So could someone please explain why we actually came here? I mean, you were obviously spitting bullshit earlier, so why are we here anyway?"_** Hequenza yelled, glancing back at both Rae and Chavez for an explanation. "Well, he wasn't EXACTLY lying, he just made his story sound utterly ridiculous." Rae explained, feeling her seatbelt tighten around her waist. Chavez made a noise of annoyance as he grabbed another apple and threw it back. "Well kitty, she obviously wasn't happy where she was. So, if she sticks around here, she can easily forget what she wants to and she can grow stronger than she already is. Rae, you don't want to go back, do you?" He asked, Rae shaking her head definitely. "See? She can make new friends here and easily survive. You can't argue with that, can you?" Chavez finished. Defeated, Hequenza sat herself on the floor of the cart and sulked.

After a few moments of sitting around, Rae, Chavez and Hequenza felt the cart come to a stop. Light suddenly poured in from windows, as Nathan opened them, presumably with his powers. The light revealed a perfect room, similar to what Owen had created just a week before. Owen. Rae pushed him out of her mind in disgust as she stepped out of the cart. The room had stairs that lead downstairs. Couches were seated, but were made out of wood and rope. Real artworks hung from the wall, and looked as if they had been carved into the canvas. The floor was made out of a rough, dark wood and a carpet made of leaves. A tall boy stood in the middle of the room, putting a book down on the couch. Chavez walked forward, as if he was walking into his own home.

"Hey Adney. I found someone, and I bet you already know who it is." Chavez said, a smirk growing on his face. Adney sighed, and sat on the couch. "No, I really don't know who it is this time Chav. I really don't. We have tracks of everyone in the forest, and no one has moved yet. You didn't find some random hobo that wandered into the forest, did you?" He asked, his head in his hands. Chaves laughed as Rae walked out of the cart. "Nope! Just look up Adney. It doesn't take much. Just one glance, alright?" Chavez said temptingly. Rolling his eyes, Adney lifted his head and saw Rae standing in the middle of room. "Hey…hows it going?" Rae said, giving a slight and awkward wave. Adney jumped out of his seat with surprise, before looking at Chavez for an explanation. But all he got was a loud laugh. Adney looked back at Rae, before realising how ridiculous he must have looked. "This is what you get for leaving reports until the end of the day and in the mornings. It bites back." Chavez laughed, hitting Adney on the back. Rae waves again and walks forward. "I'm Rae. And I'm guessing you're…Adney, right?" Rae says, holding out her hand. Adney walks forward and takes it, smiling awkwardly. "Uh…yea! Welcome to our little hideout. I'm guessing you haven't really seen the place yet, have you?" Adney says, letting go of her hand and backing away, towards Chavez. "No, not really. I was sent right up here. The only other person that I've seen is Nathan, and he seems nice enough." Rae replied casually, taking a bite of her apple.

"Well, we should get someone to give you a tour! I'm usually the one who does that kind of thing, but we've had a few problems with people like you attacking us, so I'll get someone else to do that. You probably don't want to go with Chavez. I mean, no one wants to see him for too long every day, right?" Adney joked, getting a laugh from Rae and a punch in the arm from Chavez. After the jokes were over, Adney sat back down on the couch. "And Nathan only goes off duty in about 4 hours…so, we might have to find someone else. You okay with that?" Adney asked, getting a nod from Rae. "Alright, I guess I'll bring Dane out here. He's your best bet right now. Also, how did you get Chavez to bring you here? He usually never brings any weak people." He asks, as Rae giggled. She held up her clenched fist and pointed towards her nose. Adney looked over to Chavez and saw the faint blood stains. "Wow…no one's really done that before…Well, you'll fit right in! I mean, don't go around picking fights, obviously, but if you really need to, you can deliver another one of those. Let me call Dane up, he can show you around."

"Quick, hide behind the curtains. He won't agree to doing this if he knows its a girl. No offence. He just isn't used to change." Adney explained. Rae nodded as she ducked behind the curtain. Dane came in a few moments after, with some blueberries in his hand. "uh..hey adney. what did you need me for?" Dane asks, looking up at him with sheepish blue eyes. "Hey Dane. Is it okay if I get you to give the new person a tour? They haven't really seen any of the place yet, and I can't think of anyone better for the job than you! You don't have to if you don't want to though. No pressure, alright!" Adney explains, as though he's talking to a young child. Dane's face lights up, and he nods his head quickly. "i'll do it! i haven't been able to do something like this in a long time. where is he? i'm guessing he's here somewhere, right?" Dane said like an excited puppy. Rae came out from behind the curtain cautiously, and Dane froze. "w…what? y..you didn't say anything about…her…" Dane trembled, backing towards the door. "It's alright Dane. No one else has seen her yet, except for me, Nathan and Chavez. And, since we're all busy, I know you'll be perfect for the job. All you need to do is take her around and show her where everything is. We'll get her a room later, but for now, just show her everything, alright!" Adney said, with a calm, almost hypnotising voice. Dane calmed down and his breathing slowed. "al…alright…i can try…what's …your name?" Dane asks, his voice trembling as he faces Rae. "I'm Rae, nice to meet you! You're Dane, right? That's a cool name." Rae said casually, walking slowly over. "y..yea! you really think so? i thinks your name is cool to, never heard one like it. anyway, let me show you around. and believe me, there is a lot for you to see. just follow me, okay!" Dane said, with surprising confidence. He bounced out the door, waving for Rae to follow.

*Authors Note*

Hey everyone! Just leaving a quick note as to why I'm posting this before what I'm meant to be posting today, _The Magic Finds You._ I said on one of my earlier posts that the events of these two stories happen at the same time. But, I've messed up the placement a little bit and now _The Magic Finds You_ is about a day or so ahead. So, I'm going to post this until they run at the same time. Also, these chapters are a bit longer than the others, so I hope that makes up for it a bit to. Another thing. For Danes lines, I'm not using capital letters. I'm only doing this because he isn't a very confident character, and I would usually make his lines just smaller. But, I can't really do that, so I'm just going to do his lines like this. I might change it later as the story progresses, but you'll see if that happens. Alright, see you all later!


	5. Chapter 5 - Dane

As Dane ran out the door, Adney and Chavez stared at Rae with big eyes. "Thats…never happened before…ever. Good job! You did…something. Now, go out before he panics. Go, go, go!" Adney said as Chavez pushed her out the door. Dane was standing right outside on a balcony, blocking the view. He turned around, smiling. "okay Rae, welcome to our hideout. we don't exactly have a name for it yet, so we usually just call it home." Dane said, moving away from the balcony to reveal a beautiful town. Houses were made out of different materials. Wood, leaves, water and fluffy clouds above the ground all formed creative houses that were all unique and utterly beautiful. Rae ran to the balcony and stared at everything in awe. Boys wandered around the place, talking, playing or working. "Wow…this is beautiful. How many people live here Dane?" Rae asked, tearing her eyes from the view to look at him. Startled, Dane looked up at her, before giving a response. "uh, about 40 i think. this has been like this for about a year apparently. i've been here for 3 years, when there was only about 15 people. anyway, would you like to go down and look around? you can obviously defend yourself, i saw what you did to chavez's nose. no one has done that before, you know?" Dane said, as he started to walk down the stairs to the ground below.

As Rae followed, people started to notice her. Gasps could be heard from the crowd, and people stopped what they were doing to look. Dane was starting to get stressed before Rae put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Dane's posture straightened as he went down the last two steps and walked towards a wooden building. Rae followed closely behind, as the boys that were near her stopped their murmuring, and backed away slightly. Rae, trying to be friendly, waved at the people nearby before following Dane into the building. The walls were lined with weaponry, from daggers to the extreme of spiky mallets. Dane cleared his throat, before speaking with confidence. "hey, Wyatt, are you there?" He called behind a counter stationed at the back of the room. "YEA, I'M HERE. HOLD ON A SECOND!" A voice yelled, before a trapdoor opened from the side of the counter. A young man who looked about 20 came out, with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. "Alright, what is it you need Dane?" He said, not looking up as he put down what he was carrying. "uh…well, we have someone new here today! i'm…showing her around." Dane said as Rae stepped forward. "Hi there!" She said, making the man spin around. "Wha….well, hello! This is…unexpected, isn't it? I'm Wyatt, if you couldn't tell. Also, I might look a bit older, but I'm only 15. What's your name?" Wyatt asked. "Rae. I'm guessing you run this place? Or at least, help out a bit?" She replied, and Wyatt nodded his head. "alright. i had better go and show Rae a few more places. i mean, she's only gotten a view from above." Dane reminded the two, leaning towards the door. "Oh, right. Well, come back when you're done to get a weapon. You're gonna need it against some of the people around here." Wyatt offered, as they went out of the door.

As they continued to walk around, more and more people stopped and stared at Rae, questions popping into their heads. But, they were all dismissed until later as Dane and Rae moved out of their sight. Dane showed Rae everything. The training area, the cafeteria, the meeting place in case of emergency, and some of the houses. After a whole day of walking around, Rae and Dane took a seat in the cafeteria and got some food. Dane got another handful of blueberries and Rae got a pear. "Thanks for showing me around Dane. But, I grew a bit curious. If you don't mind telling me, do you have a power?" Rae asked, watching as Dane tensed up slightly. "well…yea, i do. i haven't really shown it to anyone though…" Dane muttered, eating his blueberries and glancing down at the floor. Rae looked to the side, slightly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. You look a bit upset. I'll leave it alone." She apologised, taking another bite from her pear. "no, no, it's fine. i might show you one day. but, right now, you should go up to adney. i don't know where you'll be staying, so i can't help you there. come on, lets go." Dane said, with a bit more confidence. He got up from his chair, and Rae followed behind.

The sun was setting, and the sky was full of brilliant oranges, pinks and yellows. As they came to the stairs of Adney's place, Dane offered Rae a blueberry. Accepting, Rae waved goodbye and went up the stairs. Dane ran off, towards his house, Rae assumed. Walking into the room, Rae saw Adney sitting on his couch, reading a book. "Oh, hey Rae. How was the tour? Did Dane do a good job?" He asked, putting his book down. "Yea, it was fun. He did a really good job actually. There wasn't any trouble!" Rae said to his surprise. "He's a really cool guy. He just needs a bit more confidence." She then said, sitting down on the other couch. "Wow…no one has really said something that good about him before…you've surprised me, Rae. And that is something very hard to do, being out here for 6 years. You'll be tired. Come on, follow me. I had someone build a small house for you, a little bit away from everyone else. I mean, being the only girl and all is probably scary." Adney said, getting up from his seat. As Rae followed him, she spotted a robin in the window take off. "Here we are! Make yourself at home! I know you don't really have much, but we did find your friend here…Hequenza, right? She's been yelling pretty much all afternoon. We got her to stop by telling her where you were AND by giving her some strawberries. She seems to like them." He explained, as he closed the door to the room.

Rae looked around the small room. A few decorations hung on the walls, and the bed had a light pink cover. A few drawers were next to her bed, and a wardrobe was up against the wall. Hequenza was asleep in one of the open drawers with red strawberry juice around her mouth. Sighing, Rae looked inside her wardrobe to see one door fold out like a room divider, and the other to reveal different outfits, including some cat pyjamas. Changing into her pyjamas, Rae went to bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.


	6. Chapter 6 - Weaponry

Rae was awoken to Hequenza patting her nose over and over. **_"Hey. Hey. Hey. HEY! Wake up Rae!"_** She said, startling Rae. "What the- Hequenza! Stop it! Your going to make me sneeze!" Rae squealed, trying to push Hequenza off. ** _"Alright! You're up! Do you have any strawberries?"_** She asked, getting off the bed. "What? Really? THAT'S what you woke me up to ask? If I had strawberries? Haven't you had them before? Also, have you seen your face? It's covered in red, and people are going to think it's something OTHER than juice." Rae stated, as she got up and out of bed. Hequenza wiped at her face with her paws, trying to get the red juice off. But, this only made it worse, spreading the juice and putting some on her paws.

After about 20 minutes of hanging around in their room, Rae had gotten changed and was ready for whatever challenges she would face. Rae wore a light red tank top and some denim shorts, along with a pair of black running shoes that were obviously made for doing work in. She put her hair in a low pony tail and she grabbed her sachet. "Alright Hequenza, lets get your face washed and go outside. I don't want to be useless to everyone, alright. Help out in any way you can." Rae instructed as she opened a small side door which lead to the bathroom. **_"Alright…but what if they don't need my help?"_** Hequenza asked, hopping up onto the fence. "Well, someone has to. I mean, I heard Adney talk about attackers, or invaders or something, and you must have some sort of fighting skill." Rae noted, turning on the tap and washing Hequenza's paws. "Alright, you do the face. I'm heading out. I've probably slept in, you know." She said, leaving Hequenza to go and start her second day.

"Hey Adney, I didn't sleep in, did I?" Rae asked, turning the corner to see Adney eating some raspberries. "Na. Actually, you got up pretty early, compared to everyone else here." Adney replied, offering Rae some food. After a few minutes of eating, Hequenza came out of the room with a hand towel on her head. **_"Hey! How's it going? Any strawberries?"_** Hequenza shouted, shaking the towel off of her head. Ignoring Hequenza, Rae turned back to Adney. "Hey, I know I'm new and all, but I don't want to be completely useless. Is there anything that I can do around the place?" She asked, Hequenza still dizzy in the background. "Well, since you're new, we have to do a few things. Like picking out a weapon, for start. Since you don't have a power yet, you need some way to defend yourself. Wyatt can help you with that. Also, we'll run a few tests to see what power you'll most likely have. It can be completely wrong sometimes though, so don't worry about that too much. And once thats all done, we train you so you can be faster, stronger and more resilient to attacks." Adney concluded, getting up from his seat on the couch. "Alright, I can do that. You said I was up early though, so should I wait a bit?" Rae asked, picking up Hequenza, stopping her from spinning around the room. "Not for the weapon, no. Guys always go there early in the morning, God knows why. And Wyatt is always up about an hour or two early because of it. Running a few tests will be done in the middle of the day, so in-between then, you can do whatever. Now, I have to go and do things, alright! Have fun today, and tell me if anything happens, alright!" Adney says as he walks around the corner, out of sight.

The two were left alone in the room, before Rae got up and walked towards the door. "Alright Hequenza, don't raid the strawberry supply. I'll get some for you while I'm gone, so just stay put." Rae called back, seeing Hequenza jump up near the fruit bowl. Getting another view of the beautiful town, there were only a few boys walking around sloppily. Rae slid down the railing to the bottom of the stairs, where she went over to Wyatt's small workshop. "Hey Wyatt, are you in here?" she called, to see his head pop out from the ground with tired eyes. "Yea? Oh, hey Rae. It's a bit early, isn't it?" Wyatt asked, getting a shrug in return. "Oh well. I'm guessing Adney told you to come early, right? It gets real crowded, as he must have told you. Oh, sorry. I'm rambling. Lets get on with this. What type of weapon do you think would be easier for you to wield?" Wyatt asked, coming up out of the trapdoor.

"Well, daggers are light and easy to carry, but that can also mean that I could forget to take it somewhere. Same goes for other things like that. A sword is too big and heavy, too hard to carry around the place. A bow and arrow is heavy, and you only have a limited amount of shots…what do you think?" Rae asked, scanning the walls. "Oh! Well, I can see your reasoning for all of these. But, going by your logic, a dagger is your best bet. Also, it matches you. Everyone has that kind of connection with a weapon. and yours is with a dagger. Now, let's find the right one."

After about an hour of searching for and testing daggers, Rae found a dagger with a handle that looked like snakes skin, and was made from a light grey metal. Streaks of blue seemed to shine from the inside of the weapon, which is what drew her attention to it in the first place. It seemed to mould into her hand and move with her, every slash and jab. Wyatt and Rae both nodded, and Rae put the dagger in her sachet. "Alright, everyone gets their first weapon free, and I think you're fine with your dagger, so I might not see you here for a while. Have fun out there, okay!" Wyatt told Rae, waving her out of the workshop. "Alright, I'll visit sometime. See you later!" Rae replied, walking over to the cafeteria to get Hequenza her her strawberries.

*Authors Note*  
Hey everyone! I'm going to be going back to my normal posting schedule after one more chapter of this, sorry to leave you all hanging on the other story. I hope you've all liked this in the meantime! See you all later!


	7. Chapter 7 - Similarities

Rae walked out of the weaponry shop feeling like a boss. Dagger in her bag, Rae headed over to the cafeteria to get Hequenza what she wanted. Word had gotten around that a girl was on campus, and people were starting to look at her with both fear and worry. But, with a renewed confidence, she didn't care about who looked at her or what they thought. She knew that coming here would be a challenge, and she was willing to accept it. As long as she never saw _him_ again. Shaking the memory from a few days ago, Rae walked in through the door of the cafeteria.

About ten boys sat in small groups in the cafeteria, eating various fruits from grapes to watermelon slices. Not many people noticed her, for they were deep in their own conversations. Walking up to the table with all of the food on it, Rae felt a light tap on her shoulder. Turning around, Rae saw a small group of boys, that looked about 15. But, guessing on experience, she guessed that they were about her age."Uh…Hey! You're new here…aren't you?" One of the boys said nervously, his eyes moving left and right. "Well, yea! I'm Rae, what about you guys?" Rae replied, holding out her free hand. Startled, one of the boys at the back shuffled forward, taking her hand. "Uh…I'm Curtis. Over there is Karl, and to my right is Arlo. Uh…we kinda just wanted to know… do you like video games?" Curtis asked, his confidence shrinking until it was almost non existent. "Yea! Why wouldn't I? They let you go into a whole new world, and ignore reality. Why, do you play them too?" Rae said excitedly, a smile spreading across her face. The three boy's faces lit up, and their confidence came back.

"Yea! We managed to make some new consoles with what we could make. Curtis can make certain things into metal, Karl can conjure electricity and I can make the wires and things like that. So, when we put all that together, we can make some really cool tech. We all help out with the coding, and once that's done, then poof! There's our game!" Arlo explained, as Rae grabs a few strawberries to put in her bag. "Wow, thats so cool! I tried to teach myself coding once, but it didn't work out very well. Owen would always stuff something up-" Rae started, before stopping herself. She didn't need to think about them, she could make some new friends. The boys noticed the tension, and despite the questions, held back. "So, uh, do you wanna come over to ours tomorrow to play our latest? It's a horror game, about a possessed llama who's trying to make their race dominant. It does sound ridiculous, but it's meant to be scary, and relieve stress at the same time. Does that make a bit of sense?" Karl told Rae, who was now stuffing her bag with the strawberries. "Yea, it does. It's a bit like _Five Nights in Anime."_ Rae said, leaning up against the wall. "Five nights in what? Never heard of that game before." Arlo said. "Never mind. You know, I usually play games on my own. But it'll be funner with some friends. Where should we meet?" Rae asked, trying to shut her bag. "Well, we could meet outside the cafeteria! I mean, if Adney wants you to do stuff, then we can still re arrange, right?" Curtis asked, offering Rae another strawberry.

Laughing, Rae accepted the offer and took a bite. "Of course we could do that. But, I had better get going. I'll see you all tomorrow though, alright!" Rae called, as she walked towards the door. "Right! We'll see you then!" Karl yelled back, right before Rae walked out of the door. She was heading back to give Hequenza her strawberries. As soon as she walked through the door, her feline friend was at her feet, jumping up and down. **_"You didn't forget, right? You have strawberries, for me to eat right now! Yes yes yes yes yes!"_** Hequenza said, her words running into each other as she spoke. "Yes Hequenza, I have strawberries. I wouldn't hear the end of it if I didn't bring any." Rae stated, as she went back to her room, Hequenza close behind.

"Alright, alright, slow down! You're going to get sick. And you know I won't get you any strawberries then, right?" Rae stated, watching as Hequenza pigged out on the strawberries. **_"I cant stop myself! Have mercy!"_** Hequenza wailed, her mouth filled with red. "To be honest, you look super depressed while you eat those. You look…almost human." Rae realised, saying her thoughts aloud. **_"I don't care at the moment! Please, take some of these away!"_** Hequenza pleaded, pushing about three out of the large pile of strawberries. "Alright, I'm just gonna take half of these for later, alright?" Rae said carefully, taking what she said of the strawberries and leaving the room. When Rae shut the door, all she could hear was Hequenza's wailing.


	8. Chapter 8 - Adney

Sighing, Rae walked back outside to see Adney talking to a large group of about fifteen boys. After waiting for about ten minutes, the boys were dismissed, and went different directions with purpose. Adney turned to see Rae leaning up against a building. "Hey Adney, what's up?" Rae said, walking over to him. "Well, as I may have told you, we've had attackers from the outside. We've just been sending reinforcements to surround the perimeter and protect everything and everyone on the inside. But, let's just ignore that for now. I'm guessing you got a weapon?" Adney replied, looking towards her bag. "Oh! Yea, I got one. It's kinda buried by strawberries though, Hequenza wouldn't shut up. I did 't know she could be so loud." Rae said, trying to dig out her weapon.

After about a minute of digging, Rae brought out her dagger, which seemed to gleam in the sunlight. Surprised but content, Adney looked at the slender blade and the snakeskin handle, the blue streaks and the sharp point. "I've never seen a blade like it. Yet again, I don't get any weapon from Wyatt's shop. I really need to check out some of the stuff in there once in a while." Adney said, handing the weapon back. "Really? Why not?" Rae asked, putting the dagger in one of the front compartments in her bag. "Well…most of us have our abilities, right? I have an ability that I only share with one other person, but they'll tell you if they want to. Anyway, my ability is shapeshifting. Into animals, mostly. But, I can turn into other people too. Here, let me show you." Adney replied, stepping back a bit.

He melted down into a shimmering puddle on the ground in a matter of seconds, like wax. But, this state wasn't held for long, as Rae saw a body form right in front of her eyes. Long, blonde hair down Adney's back was formed, as well as a light red tank top and some denim shorts. Blueish-green eyes stared back at Rae, who stumbled back in surprise. Adney had turned into Rae, and it was accurate. "Whoah…that's so…wow…why did you turn into me though?" Rae murmured, her voice raising on the question. Laughing, Adney circled Rae, flicking his hair around. "I do it all the time with newbies. It's funny to see what they do." Adney replied, in Rae's voice. "Alright, alright, I guess that makes sense. But that's really creepy, you know that, right?" Rae replied, shaking her head in her hands. Rolling his eyes, Adney went back to his puddle form, before becoming who Rae knew as the leader.

"Alright, we should probably get you over to the test. You know why we do it, right?" Adney asked, getting a slight shrug from Rae. "Alright. We do these tests so we can set some specific challenges for you in your training. Also, if it's something that we don't know, we can watch your symptoms and behaviour so we can predict what might happen in the future. Make sense?" Adney explained, leading Rae over to a small glass dome, which seemed to be buried underground. "Yea, it does. But, what kind of thing do you do in there?" Rae asked, pointing towards the building. "We do simple tests using technology and both physical and mental ability. We have people that can make some cool tech, but they make things called 'video games' now. But, they have fun with it. Here we are!" Adney said, as they stopped in front of a small trapdoor.

"You know, you might get lucky. Sometimes people get their powers while in the first test, which is bravery based. But, it's only happened a few times. Lets go." Adney said to Rae, opening the trapdoor. The inside of the building was huge, spreading out into different hallways and rooms. A large, black box sat embedded in the floor, where some glass allowed you to look inside. Robots were littered around the room, focused on health, science and other things Rae didn't recognise. A tall boy, who looked about twelve, sat in the middle of the desk. 'He looks normal. Maybe he's one of those people without powers.' Rae thought to herself, as she walked forward. "Hey Asher, we have a newbie." Adney called, making the boy turn around in excitement. "Really? It's been ages since we've seen someone new. Where are they?" Asher asked, looking around the room. "Hey!" Rae said, waving her hand. "Oh! Hello there! Sorry, I didn't see you. I'm Asher. I'm one of the only people here without powers, if that surprises you at all. Anyway, what's your name?" Asher said, holding his hand out to Rae. "I'm Rae, nice to meet you!" Rae replied, shaking his hand.

"Alright, now that the introductions are done, let's get to the testing. Now, the results might be a bit different because of your gender, but I don't think anything will change _too_ much. Could you follow me please? Adney, the first test will be finished in about half an hour, alright!" Asher called back, walking through one of the hallways. Both Adney and Rae looked at each other and shrugged, before Rae followed behind.


	9. Chapter 9 - Stranger in the Window

As soon as Rae left the room, Hequenza quickly pulled out a secret stash of strawberries that she had found in the kitchen. **_"Ha ha! She'll never find these. NEVER! Mwah ha ha ha!"_** Hequenza said, trying to sound evil. Suddenly, the window burst open, and a woman in a hooded robe appeared. _"Hello Hequenza. How're things going? Any progress?"_ The stranger said, looking over at the pile of strawberries. **_"Not much progress. I mean, I can't help it if she hates the guy, right? I did nothing wrong!"_** Hequenza argued, putting down what she had in her paws. _"I won't argue with that, but I will argue that it's your fault that she came here. She's dangerous, and you know it. It won't be too long now, everyone back home can feel it. I'm surprised that you've been able to keep up the 'go happy!' act."_ The hooded stranger said, leaning over and picking up a strawberry.

Hequenza looked down, the smile that was on her face a few moments ago gone. Looking back up, with a more serious face, Hequenza spoke again. **_"Yea, I know. I can only do it when the others aren't around though. The nightmares won't let me keep it up forever. No matter how much I want life to be like that."_** Hequenza sighed, giving a sad smile. _"Well, once the girl get's her powers, you wont have to pretend. It'll happen sometime this month. If it doesn't, then the magic will dissipate, and she will never get her powers. This, again, will mess up everything. But, we won't let that happen. If push comes to shove, we'll get Kioka to do her thing again, like she did with the boy._ The hooded stranger explained, taking a bite from the strawberry.

 ** _"Well, at least I have my strawberries. Anyway, how did you get past everyone? I've heard that the security's really strict because of recent attacks. And your hood wouldn't help with that either."_** Hequenza pointed out, as she pushed her strawberries out of reach. _"I have my ways. Oh! I still need to tell you what I came here to tell you. We've found some…more people."_ The hooded stranger said, hesitant in her own words. **_"New people? This soon? How many are there?"_** Hequenza asked, worried at the statement. _"We're not sure. But, the people that we have track on right now are both alone. A boy and a girl, who are both blindly walking towards the different hideouts. From what we gather, the girl has her powers, but the boy does not. The girl is what has caught our interests though. She seems to be looking for something. Or someone."_ The hooded stranger stated. Hequenza caught on, and the realisation dawned on her.

Hequenza looked down, before muttering something. **_"Who are they looking for? Are they headed this way?"_** She asked. _"We think she's looking for the girl, which means that they probably know the other two as well, but not personally. She isn't headed this way though, which means that the other camp will find her first. This last person could very well spark a war, and we wont be able to stop it. So, we need to make sure that the girl finds what she's looking for, or no one will survive."_

*Authors Note*

Hey everyone! I'm going to use this short chapter as an announcement for a couple of new things that I'll be doing regarding these two stories. First off, I'll be doing a couple of side stories that talk about some of the boys and their pasts, and why they're in the forest. These stories will come out every once in a while on the same day as a normal chapter, so they won't interfere with anything. Also, these stories won't be necessary to the story, but it's still good to know if you want to look at the characters in a new light. I might do some for the other side too, but I haven't figured out that much yet. Secondly, I'm thinking about putting my story on another website called Quotev, so I can reach out to a slightly bigger audience. But, I might change my mind, so please tell me what you think I should do. Your opinion still matters, even if there isn't many of you. Alright, I'll see you all when I post the next chapter! Bye!


	10. Chapter 10 - Test One

"Alright, here we are. Could you please step inside? Oh! You've gotten a weapon from Adney, right? We might need to see it later on if we need a bit more clarification, if that's alright." Asher asked, still moving Rae into the room. "Yea, it's fine. But uh, what's the first test?" Rae replied, looking around the dark room. As her eyes adjusted, she could see a table stationed in the middle of the room, with a small, matching stool positioned directly behind it. Some sort of headgear was waiting for her, with some sort of controllers attached to it. "This test will be a simulation. Various scenarios will be shown to you, and your reactions will be recorded. But, your thoughts and memories will be pushed back, and may come back when you see certain things. So, you might remember exactly what's going on at the very beginning of the simulation, or not at all. Okay?" Asher explained, getting a slight nod. A knock could be heard above, trying to get someones attention. As Rae lifted her head, Chavez and Dane could be seen waving, giving her luck.

Smiling, Rae waved up at the two boys and gave them two thumbs up. Dane put a plastic container of blueberries on top of the glass, trying to offer her one. But, before Rae could even pretend, Adney had ushered them off of the glass and had moved the blueberries. "Alright, so do I just sit down and put it on? I mean, it looks like the controllers are easy to use, since you said that I won't really remember anything, right?" Rae mentioned, getting fast nods from Asher. "Yep! Alright, are you ready? I'm really excited, we haven't had any new people for like…forever! Let's get started!" Asher chimed. Rae sat herself down and picked up the headset. The headband that would hold the device on her head was made of think elastic, and the headset itself was light and easy to hold. She took a deep breath in and put the headset on.

 _It was dark. No one was nearby. Her friends. Family. Pets. Gone. Rae looked around, panicked and afraid. The monster that she had seen earlier was somewhat familiar to her, despite never seeing anything like it. Some sort of advanced technology had been shooting itself out of the ground, aiming itself at anyone who came close. It had started to attack the innocent like children and animals. Like Rae's friends, Vivi and Mako. Vivi, her best friend for years. And Mako, her white and stripy cat. Suddenly, the technology came up out of nowhere and wrapped around Rae's legs, trapping her. Small, but sharp spikes dug into her, making her cry out in pain. Her sachet was slung off of her shoulder as the vines slowly made their way up to her head. Her sachet. The dagger. Rae remembered, for a brief moment, that a weapon was in one of the many pockets of her leather sachet, which she had had for years._

 _Rae, against the benefit of the odds, bit into the crawling technology and kicked it away. As if it were surprised, the strange technology doubled back. Seeing her chance, Rae grabbed her bag and ran faster than she could have in a marathon, even if she tried. Screaming could be heard from behind her. Screams that she had not only heard before, but would never leave her. Vivi. Rae, tears in her eyes, stopped in her tracks and looked around. The air was foggy, and the winds were blowing dust everywhere. If she ran now, she might just be able to save them both. Maybe. Another scream could be heard from the East._

 _She ran towards it, digging around in her bag. A figure could be seen ahead, wrapped up in the technology. Rae cried out, almost dropping her sachet. A large pod suddenly came up and out of the ground, and a tall figure emerged with something in his hand. Rae tore apart her bag to find the dagger, a brilliant blue shining through the metal. Taking the risk, Rae ran towards her friend and slashed at the other being with her weapon. Not looking back, she ripped open the technology to free Vivi. Something struck at her back, making both her and Vivi scream. Blood was dripping from her back, and she was weak from running. Rae was finished. Looking up at her attacker, she saw long, brown hair and a scarred face. The male smiled crazily, before bringing his technology down on her one more time. Everything was dark. All was silent._

"-ae? You alright? Chavez got to the controls, and it got real dark real quick. Rae!" Asher explained, shaking Rea in her seat. "WHAT THE FUCK?" Rae yelled, taking off the headset. "Chavez has some real dark shit up there, doesn't he?" Rae asked, pointing up to her head. "Yea, sorry about that. He's gone now though…I think. Who knows with him anymore? Anyway, you alright?" Asher replied as Rae got up and out of the seat. "Yea, I'm fine. Is Dane still here?" Rae asked. "Yea, unless he went off to grab something. Either way, we have some results, and we might not need you to do any more tests. No promises though." Asher said, walking over to the door. "Yea, guess so." Rae muttered. When the two came up and out of the room, Dane came running at them like the Flash. "Rae! are you alright? chavez got to the controllers, and he pressed some buttons, and we could see everything and…and…damn. that was like, really hard but you still pulled through! i wouldn't have done that. i couldn't have done that!" Dane spluttered, his hands shaking. "I'm alright Dane. Thanks though, you really can help quite a lot. Now, I'm going to go and grab some food real quick. You coming with?" Rae asked, getting a yes from her friend. Friend. Yes, she was confident in that now. The one that she called her friend was jumping around excitedly, nodding his head and smiling. "alright! let's go!"


	11. Chapter 11 - Forget

"so Rae, if a situation like that happened to you again, do you think your reaction would change?" Dane asked, walking over to an empty table with a small bucket of blueberries. "Hmm…I don't think so. It might though, because I would remember more. I wouldn't just remember straight up 'wait, I have a dagger in my bag! How convenient!' I mean, I would know so much. Like where the dagger came from, and why it was in my bag. I don't know how that would change what I would do, but who knows." Rae replied, eating some oranges. "yea, I guess so. i think i would just crawl into a corner and hide, hoping that they would never find me. but, again, who knows?" Dane said, playing around with his blueberry pie.

"Hey, I was kinda wondering. Why do you like blueberries so much? Is it because you don't like anything else?" Rae asked. Dane tensed up slightly in his seat, making Rae think that she had done something wrong. "uh, well, it's kind of a long story that i would rather tell when we have more time. i mean, you have training in like, five minutes, don't you?" Dane mentioned, making Rae panic. "Oh shit! You're right! How long have we even been here anyway?" Rae asked, getting up and out of her seat. "uh, well, we kinda got lost on a couple of turns back there, so yea…anyway! training grounds aren't that far away from here. follow me!"

"yes! we got here in time! now go! i think nathan was helping out today, so if you see him, i think he'll help you out. i'll leave you to your training now. i don't know what you'll do, but they'll figure something out. bye!" Dane said, running away from the large area. "Wait, what? Oh, great. This'll be fun!" Rae said sarcastically, adding in jazz hands for random effect. The training area was about the size of a soccer field, if she had ever been bothered to go to one. Posts had been put up, dividing the area into smaller sections for different things. Archers were set up on one side, where as some elemental users were attacking some dummies made out of old sacks filled with some sort of wool for stuffing. Plenty of boxes were empty, and only twelve people were in those that weren't. "Well then! Now what am I going to do? Thanks heaps on that one Dane." Rae said to herself, before letting herself laugh. "Alright! Let's find what I'm meant to be doing in this…uh…thingy!"

Rae hadn't even gone two steps before she was surrounded by about seven of the twelve people that were training just a moment before. "Can I see your weapon?" "Do you have your powers yet?" "Hi!" "Do you wanna train with us?" Rae was overwhelmed with questions, before she tried to answer them best she could. "Uh, to answer a few of the questions I heard, no, I don't have my powers yet, my weapon is this dagger" She said, bringing it out of her sachet as she continued talking. "And, uh, hello! That's honestly all I could make out. Sorry if there were more." Rae finished. The area was filled with a soft muttering, before someone who was training came over. "Oi! What's going on? Why'd you all stop training? We've got work to do!" The voice said, before he broke through the small crowd of people that surrounded Rae.

A guy who looked like he was in his early twenties came through, but judging by what Rae had seen earlier, she guessed that he was about fifteen. He had black hair and dark, orange eyes. His skin was a dark brown, and he had a strong build. He was tall, and looked down at Rae with slight surprise. "Uh, hi! I'm Rae. I've only been here for a few days, so I don't really know how things work around here. So, uh, yeah." Rae said with uncertainty. The boy crouched down to match Rae's height, making everyone behind him step back slightly. He then got back up and held out his hand. "Hey there. We've been told that a new person would be coming over today. I guess this is what Adney meant. Alrighty then. Everyone get back to training. We'll have a break in an hour or so. Follow me to an empty booth Rae, and we'll get things started. Oh, by the way. The names Baylor. But I don't care what you call me. Go on everyone! Go off! Let's get training."

Hi everyone! I know I haven't been posting in a while, and I have no proper excuse for that. Not even a writers block. I'm going to try and post slowly, maybe one chapter every few days or so. If I stop posting again, then I'm sorry in advance. I don't have much else to say, except that I'm trying to get back on track. See you all later.


	12. Chapter 12 - Target

"Alright, let's get started with some target practice. I saw your weapon there, it's a fine piece of work. Wyatt definitely knows what he's doing over there." Baylor mentioned, leading Rae over to one of the larger areas of the field. "For this first part here, we'll be doing some simple target practice. Nothing big. I'm guessing you haven't really done this stuff before, now have you?" He asked, getting a no from Rae. "I mean, I've never actually needed to turn to violence. I've always been on the sidelines, or even tried to stop a situation calmly." Rae said as they arrived at their destination.

"Really? Damn, that's one way to tackle a situation. But, I'm not here to help you make more friends. I'm here to help you grow stronger than you already are." Baylor replied, slightly shocked. Then, an Idea came to him. "Alrighty then, I want to see how strong you really are." he said, making Rae's eyes shoot up. "From what you tell me, you've been a pacifist for your whole life. So, I want to see how much strength is trapped in there." "Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you if you're going to be helping me out for a bit." Rae muttered nervously. "Relax, I'm a tough cookie, and I don't crumble easily. Come on, **hit me with your best shot**."

Those were the last words Baylor spoke before he was on the floor, holding his nose in his hands. "Oh God, are you alright? I meant to aim more for your shoulder, but you moved right as I punched." Rae sputtered, trying to help him up. "Hey, does anyone have an ice pack or something? I might have just broken his nose." Rae yelled at a few archers, who quickly scattered to find something to help. Everyone stopped to look over at what was causing the commotion, and came over in small groups. Baylor sat up groggily, and leaned up against one of the posts. He removed his hand to wipe his brow, revealing his crushed and bloody nose.

After a few minutes, a few boys came over with some first aid kits, and some strange pillow which seemed to have been made of wood and moss. "What happened here? How on earth did Baylor's nose end up like…THAT?" One of the boys asked, getting no real reply from anyone. "He's passed out. Probably from blood loss. Pass me an ice pack." Another boy commented, looking around for someone else to help. "Hey, over there! Can you go and tell Adney what happened?" He then said, pointing at Rae. "Alright, any idea where he is?" She replied, as a few fingers pointed towards the cafeteria.

Rae ran into the cafeteria to see Adney, bored as ever, listening to what seemed to be reports. After waiting there for a few minutes, the boys had all left and Adney had walked over. "Hey Rae. Aren't you meant to be at training?" He asked, as Rae fiddled her fingers. "Well, yes, but one of the medics sent me to tell you about Baylor. I might have…broken his nose when he told me to punch him?" She replied, making Adney sit up quickly. After a minute of taking the information in, Adney replied. "What is with you and punching people's noses?"

"I don't know! I was aiming for his shoulder, and he tried to move so I would miss him…I think? And I hit his nose, and there was blood, and his nose is all twisted. I don't know why they wanted you to come instead of more medics, but here I am. Panicked and stressed as anything." She replied, rushing through her words. "I don't know either. But if they want me, I guess I'll have to go." Adney said, pretending to be upset.

The two run out of the building and head towards the training area, where a larger group of boys has gathered. "Alrighty then, looks like training has been cut short." Adney said, walking through the crowd as Rae stayed at the back. "Well yea. Baylor's passed out, and we don't have anyone else left to help out. Any ideas?" One of the boys next to him said, with everyone nodding in agreement. Adney thought for a moment, before giving a few orders. "Alrighty then, you can all have a break from training for today. Can someone help the medics take Baylor somewhere a bit more quiet? That might get him to wake up a little faster. Come on, let's go!" He said, making everyone move off.

"Alrighty then…so that's what they wanted me for. Hey, you can do whatever you want for now. Since, you know, you kinda knocked out Baylor." Adney replied. "Hey, is he gonna be okay? I mean, he passed out…" Rae said. "Yea, he'll be fine. He's a tough cookie. That's what he said, right? He says it to everyone, and it isn't exactly wrong. He's tough, but every cookie breaks under pressure. Especially when someone punches them _at full force_ in the nose."

"Alright. But, I still want to help out in some way. If I can't, then that's fine. But, I don't want to just be in the way." Rae told Adney, who stopped in his tracks. "We don't have anything left for you do. Now, go and do as you please." He replied sternly. Rae, confused, walked back over to the cafeteria where Dane was waiting. "oh, you're back from training? what happened?" He asked, as Rae sat down. "I accidentally broke Baylor's nose when he told me to punch him. Anyway, do you have any idea what's up with Adney? I asked him if there was anything I could help him with, and he was acting all…weird about it." Rae said, waving away the question. "uh, no, Adney's never like that. but i mean, baylor has never broken his nose before. so there's a first for everything." Dane replied.

After about an hour of eating, and hanging out with Dane, Rae headed back to her little house to see Hequenza sitting on the floor eating strawberries. "Hey Hequenza. How's your day been?" Rae asked, walking over to the bed to put her bag down. **_"What? Oh, uh, the normal. Sleeping, eating, you know. I haven't really been able to leave at all, so it's been real boring."_** Hequenza replied, silently shoving the strawberries away. "Yea. Hey, why don't you come with me tomorrow? As far as I know, I'm not doing anything other than going to play games with Curtis, Karl and Arlo." Rae said. **_"Hold on. You have friends? And you're hanging out with them? Mate, you're doing better now that I did in a month. Jeez."_** Hequenza stated. "Well, you can come with me tomorrow. Just, lay off of the strawberries, alright. I mean, your face is covered in red, and that doesn't look too good." Rae said, making Hequenza think twice. **_"Alright, fine. I won't eat any strawberries until I get back from…wherever we're going tomorrow."_** Hequenza said, putting her paw on her chest, as if to swear on her life.

"Alrighty then. It's getting dark, and I'm really tired. So, if you're hungry, eat something without juice. Especially anything red. I'm going to bed, alright? Don't stay up too late." Rae carried on. **_"Yea yea, I get it. Jeez, stop mothering me."_** Hequenza half joked. Rae rolled her eyes, as she got changed into her pyjamas. "Okay, okay. Goodnight." Rae said, as she collapsed on her bed.


End file.
